EBS Billy Sheehan Ultimate Signature Drive

The EBS Billy Sheehan Ultimate Signature Drive is a bass overdrive and distortion pedal from EBS, developed with Billy Sheehan and introduced at NAMM 2019 as the third edition of the Billy Sheehan Signature Drive line¹². Its core idea is a signal split: the incoming bass signal is divided into two parallel paths, one clean and one distorted, then blended back to a single output. EBS describes it as being like running two bass rigs side by side, and the pedal combines that split with compression, tone shaping and a boost in one box¹.

The line began in 2013, when EBS Sweden teamed up with Sheehan to build the original Billy Sheehan Signature Drive, a pedal combining built-in compression, mix tone shaping and the ability to mix a clean and distorted signal³. Sheehan developed it through three prototypes with EBS before the first units shipped, and based the circuit on an approximation of the Pearce preamp he had long used⁴.

Parallel clean and distorted paths

The design principle behind the whole pedal is that distortion and low end do not have to be a trade-off. Instead of pushing your entire signal through a clipping stage, the Ultimate splits the signal so the clean path carries the fundamental while the drive path carries the grind. The Clean control sets the volume of the clean path and the Drive control sets the gain for distortion, so the two are shaped independently¹.

Sheehan described the goal in his own words when the original pedal launched:

Delicious Audio described the topology the same way: the signal is split via two parallel audio paths, one clean and one dirty, like running through two separate amps, with individual effects loops for each channel so any routing situation is possible². EBS suggests placing the pedal after octave or other pitch effects, and before chorus, delay and reverb¹.

The controls

The Ultimate keeps the four-knob layout that has run through the whole line, drive, tone, level and clean, and adds switches for compression, phase and frequency range¹⁷⁸.

The Hi/Lo filter is the headline addition of the Ultimate edition. EBS says it unlocks distortion tones unavailable in earlier versions of the pedal¹. The pedal also uses magnet-type footswitches, another new feature for this edition¹.

Compressor modes

The built-in compressor offers three modes, High, Mid and Off, with a maximum ratio of 5:1¹. EBS positions the compressor as a way to keep note differentiation clearly audible even when the signal is heavily distorted³. Internally, the compressor has a threshold range of -25 to +6 dB, an attack time under 7 ms (80%), a release time of 75 ms typical (80%), and makeup gain of 0, +3 or +6 dB¹.

On the Deluxe model, Premier Guitar's reviewer noted a practical bonus: because the compression function can operate without the drive, you have a clean, on-the-fly compressor when you need it⁸. The circuit board also contains trim pots for the compression's ratio and threshold levels, a detail carried over from the original pedal⁸.

Clean and drive loops

Each of the two parallel paths has its own effects loop, a Clean Loop and a Drive Loop¹. Each loop uses a single jack for both send and return, so connecting external effects requires a TRS insert cable, such as the EBS ICY-30, to separate the send and return¹. The loops have an output impedance of 2 kohms and an input impedance of 47 kohms¹.

For a player, this is what makes the pedal a small routing hub: you can, for example, put an envelope filter on the clean path only, or a fuzz on the drive path only, and blend the results. Other specs worth knowing: nominal input level is -8 dBv, input impedance is 700 kohms, output impedance is under 50 ohms, and mix level is +3 dB max for the drive path and +6 dB max for the clean path¹.

Power: 9, 12 or 18 V DC

The Ultimate runs on 9, 12 or 18 V DC at 60 mA max, and shuts off below 6 V¹. It can also run on a 9V DC battery or the EBS AD9 Pro power supply, which is not included¹.

Running the pedal at a higher voltage is an option the maker supports, and 18 V is best treated as a headroom option rather than a requirement: the pedal is designed to run on its standard supply, with the higher setting there for players who want it¹.

Versions of the Billy Sheehan Signature Drive

The line has run through three editions, and EBS marks features on the Ultimate's page as shared with the purple and orange versions or with the orange version alone¹.

The Deluxe was announced at NAMM 2016 as a fully analog pedal, with Guitar.com reporting significantly more gain than the original version and a ship date in Q2 2016¹⁰⁹. Its swappable 8-pin dual inline op-amp chip let users customize the drive character, which Guitar Interactive Magazine described as the ability to customize your own signature drive via user replaceable op-amps¹⁰. The Ultimate carries that feature over: EBS lists a replaceable drive circuit built on an 8-pin dual inline op-amp¹.

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar's review of the original Signature Drive found the parallel-blend concept was the pedal's strength: "Being able to shape clean and overdriven tones independently is a great thing." The reviewer also found it plays nice with both passive and active basses, sustained harmonics for a long time under high compression and drive settings, and concluded that "With the Signature Drive, his trademark bass sounds are now achievable and controllable with a single pedal"⁷.

Of the Deluxe, Premier Guitar's reviewer found Sheehan's signature sound present in the pronounced mids and aggressive, clanging highs, and summed up the pros as "Authoritative, Sheehan-esque tone. Practical features and convenient customization."⁸

Bass Musician Magazine's Alberto Rigoni demoed the Ultimate in 2021:

EBS also published a five-star review of the Ultimate on its own site in June 2019, when the pedal was available in stores⁶.

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